Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Woodcock \Wood"cock`\, n. [AS. wuducoc.]
   1. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of several species of long-billed
      limicoline birds belonging to the genera {Scolopax} and
      {Philohela}. They are mostly nocturnal in their habits,
      and are highly esteemed as game birds.

   Note: The most important species are the European ({Scolopax
         rusticola}) and the American woodcock ({Philohela
         minor}), which agree very closely in appearance and
         habits.

   2. Fig.: A simpleton. [Obs.]

            If I loved you not, I would laugh at you, and see
            you Run your neck into the noose, and cry, ``A
            woodcock!''                           --Beau. & Fl.

   {Little woodcock}.
      (a) The common American snipe.
      (b) The European snipe.

   {Sea woodcock fish}, the bellows fish.

   {Woodcock owl}, the short-eared owl ({Asio brachyotus}).

   {Woodcock shell}, the shell of certain mollusks of the genus
      {Murex}, having a very long canal, with or without spines.
      

   {Woodcock snipe}. See under {Snipe}.